Goodluck Jonathan honoured the late
Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, with
an award for "his contributions to the
nation," the United States has ordered a
freeze on $458m in assets stolen by the
former dictator and his accomplices.
AFP quoted the Justice Department as
saying on Wednesday that the
corruption proceeds – stashed away in
bank accounts in Britain, France and
Jersey – were frozen at Washington's
request with the help of local
authorities.
Abacha died in office in 1998, but his
surviving relatives still include some of
the richest and most influential figures
in Nigeria.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint
unsealed in the US District Court in
Washington, the department wants to
recover more than $550m in connection
with the action.
"This is the largest civil forfeiture action
to recover the proceeds of foreign
official corruption ever brought by the
department," said Mythili Raman, acting
assistant attorney general.
"General Abacha was one of the most
notorious kleptocrats in memory, who
embezzled billions from the people of
Nigeria, while millions lived in poverty,"
she said.
The Justice Department said the frozen
assets, along with additional assets
named in the complaint, represented
the "proceeds of corruption" during and
after the military regime of Abacha, who
became Head of State through a military
coup on November 17, 1993 and held
that office until his death on June 8,
1998.
The complaint alleges that Abacha; his
son, Mohammed Sani Abacha; their
associate, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and
others "embezzled, misappropriated and
extorted billions from the government
of Nigeria and others, then laundered
their criminal proceeds through the
purchase of bonds backed by the United
States using US financial institutions."
Raman said that the action sent a "clear
message" that the United States was
"determined and equipped to confiscate
the ill-gotten riches of corrupt leaders
who drain the resources of their
countries."
The US government's Kleptocracy Asset
Recovery Initiative, where appropriate,
provides for the return of stolen
proceeds "to benefit the people harmed
by these acts of corruption and abuse of
office."
It did not specify what action would be
taken with regard to the Abacha case.
The funds frozen include approximately
$313m in two bank accounts in the
Bailiwick of Jersey and $145m in two
bank accounts in France, the
department said.
Four investment portfolios and three
bank accounts in Britain were frozen,
with an estimated value of at least
$100m, but the exact amounts in the
accounts have not yet been determined,
it said.
The Justice Department said that on
February 25 and 26, authorities in
Jersey, France and Britain complied with
the US action to freeze the assets.
The complaint also seeks to freeze five
corporate entities registered in the
British Virgin Islands.
According to the complaint, Abacha and
others systematically embezzled billions
of dollars in public funds from Nigeria's
central bank on the false pretence that
the funds were necessary for national
security.
They withdrew the funds in cash and
then moved the money overseas
through US financial institutions.
Abacha and his Finance minister,
Anthony Ani, also allegedly caused the
government to buy Nigerian
government bonds at vastly inflated
prices from a company controlled by
Bagudu and Mohammed Abacha. That
operation created an illegal windfall of
more than $282m.
In addition, Abacha and his co-
conspirators allegedly extorted more
than $11m from a French civil
engineering company, Dumez, and its
Nigerian affiliate in connection with
payments on government contracts.
Funds involved in each of these schemes
were laundered through the US in nine
financial institutions, the complaint
alleged.
The financial institutions involved
include Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank
and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company,
now JPMorgan Chase, and New York-
based units of Britain's Barclays Bank
and Germany's Commerzbank.
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